Have You Ever Been In Love?
by Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora
Summary: After Sam loses Mikaela, he seeks out Optimus Prime. But what appeared to be a simple meeting turns out differently. Sam's question brings the human and the Autobot closer than before. Set after "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."


_Have You Ever Been In Love?_

Sam Witwicky paced around the NEST headquarters. An agonizing throbbing in his left hand reminded him of when the flesh connected with the hard wall. _Mikaela..._ At once the teen wanted to make contact with the wall again. He once more thought of the woman that had broken his heart, telling him that he cared more about the Autobots than her. Sam ignored the sudden stinging in his eyes and remembered what happened afterward. After Mikaela left him, he ordered Bumblebee to take him to the NEST headquarters, not caring how long it took. Sam needed to talk to someone, someone not being his loving but overprotective parents. That someone wasn't Bumblebee either. Sam asked himself why he was seeking out Opitmus Prime after all this time. Given, it had been six months since Sam had saved the Autobot's leader's life, but after that, the two had parted ways. Optimus and the other Autobots, along with NEST, were still hunting Decepticons, and Sam was college-bound. Why now after all this time?

A sudden pound of feet jolted Sam out of his thoughts. Standing before him was Optimus Prime, standing tall and his blue and red paint gleaming. The battle enchantments given to him by Jetfire were gone, but in Sam's mind, they served their purpose. Sam thought he looked well since the battle with the Fallen. It was in that very same battle that Sam had told Mikaela that he loved her. Swallowing the sadness that threatened to crush his chest, Sam cleared his throat and looked up at the Autobot's leader.

"You said you wanted to see me, Sam." Optimus was watching Sam warily with concern. "Is something troubling you?"

Sam licked his lips. What would he say? For all he knew, Optimus Prime would not understand. He didn't know if Optimus would know about love. Hesitating slightly, and with a voice that did not belong to him, Sam said, "Mikaela and I broke up." Sam looked him and saw nothing but understanding in Optimus' eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sam." That was his only reply. Sam looked away, ashamed by the tears that were threatening to spill.

"I remember when we first met," Sam replied, again speaking with the raspy and hollow voice that didn't belong to him. "I asked her if I could take her home in my car. We were in high school. I was so flustered I didn't think she would agree, but she did." Sam swallowed the sadness that was crushing his throat. "Then after I...came back, I told her that I loved her." Sam gave a hollow laugh, and he did not notice that Optimus was watching him intently. "Then she dumped me six months later, for letting Brains and Wheelie stay in her apartment. I guess... she didn't really love me."

Silence penetrated the room for a moment. It seemed to Sam that Optimus Prime was just listening and not giving useless advice, unlike his parents and Bumblebee. Sam gave a hint of a smile. Maybe this is why he came to Optimus Prime. He was known to be someone that listened. Then a thought entered Sam's mind. Did he understand? Had Optimus Prime been in love?

"Have you ever been in love?"

"Yes." The answer came out stiff and strangled. Optimus' thoughtful face of understanding was now replaced with grief. Optimus sighed. "I haven't thought about it in a very long time," the robotic leader confessed. "Her name was Ember, and she was one of us."

"She was an Autobot?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Sam." Optimus paused as if recollecting the memories that he had buried deep inside him. "She was a very brave warrior, small and lithe. She loved me as well."

"What happened?" Sam asked. He thought he all ready knew the answer, noting Optimus' grief.

"She died in the war." Optimus Prime did not say anything for a while. "Ember sacrificed herself to save me from Megatron. Just like my sister, Steel. I am responsible for their deaths."

Sam did not know what to say. He had never before seen Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, so defeated.

"I'm sorry, Optimus." This was he could say. Sam saw Optimus nod to him, still in his thoughts. Then he saw Optimus look down at him. "Sam, we each have loves in our hearts that have passed on. Every one of us has. I believe that each one that has passed would want us to move on, and remember. They are in our hearts. Don't you think, Sam?"

"Yes," Sam agreed. He was grateful that he had seen Optimus Prime. Sam felt lighter, as if the sadness that he had been carrying with him had disappeared. "Thank you, Optimus."

The Autobot's eyes bore into Sam's own. "You saved my life, Sam. I will not forget that."

* * *

><p>Sitting in the front seat while Bumblebee drove, Sam recalled Optimus' words. <em>"I believe that each one that has passed would want us to move on, and remember. They are in our hearts."<em> Sam smiled slightly. Losing Michaela would be hard and painful, not an easy one, but Sam was confident that he would move on. After all, hadn't Optimus moved on from Ember's and Steel's deaths, his lover and his sister?

_"Don't you think, Sam?"_

Sam remembered Mikaela, of how sweet she could be at times. This time, however, the memory didn't cause a rush of sadness.

_Yes, Opitmus, I agree._


End file.
